| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
50. Spree Wilson “Right One, Wrong Time”
The summery hits of Ghost Town DJ’s, INOJ and KP & Envyi are among over most very favorite jams that have ever existed. Spree Wilson’s forthcoming Life in Technicolor EP is the only release we can recall within the past 10 years specifically citing these as an influence, and if “Right One, Wrong Time” is any indication, the others will be sounding authentic as fuck. The lyrics match this tone perfectly, and not by including kitchy 1997-centric phrases like “raise the roof” or “talk to the hand,” but rather by opting for a more heartfelt form of nostalgia, recalling moments when we simply weren’t prepared for a huge opportunity and recalling the past with bittersweet regret. If Amerie’s “Why R U?” from 2009 or Kanye’s Bieber/Wu-Tang mashup from 2010 have been any indication, songs like those on Life in Technicolor stand no chance whatsoever of charting, an unfortunate fate for one our favorite new dance artists of 2012. Perhaps the EP’s remaining 2 or 3 unleaked jams will yield irresistibly melodic catchiness. We can only hope.| Soundcloud |
49. R. Kelly “When A Man Lies”
R. Kelly's been bad. He's not proud of it, and he's having some trouble training himself to break his bad habits. But at least he can try to warn others of falling into the trap. “I’m just tellin’ the truth.” The subject of “trust” and “Truth” is nothing new in the world of R&B, but no one’s lying to themselves by admitting how hard he kills the vocal performance here, on a deep album track of all places. (We're pretty sure this isn't a radio single.) Discovered in the lower portion of Charles Aaron’s “Top 40 Songs of 2012” for SPIN, "When a Man Lies" is a great example of the "classic" sounding R&B jams that somehow creep their way into our Hot Mix year after year, like last year's Jill Scott/Anthony Hamilton inclusion, or various tracks from Ne-Yo since 2007. Editorials from SPIN or Pitchfork labeling 2012 as a banner year for R&B aren’t far off the mark, although it’s not like this genre’s had nothing of merit from the past five years. Great songs like "When a Man Lies" aren't going anywhere.| Soundcloud |
48. Broken Water “Coming Down”
If there's a song on Tempest that removes any doubt of Broken Water’s admiration of Sonic Youth, “Coming Down” is that jam. Previous recordings might not have made this as obvious, but this time around, vocals and guitar tones are distinctly influenced by Thurston Moore, although the theme and subject matter appear to be more direct and human than most of SY’s themes. The vocals are buried, although the lyric “fuckin’ up everything I touch” rises to the surface. Frustration builds throughout the song, which becomes more unbearable as the song progressives into one of the most effective usages of a stretched-out crescendo since Pulp’s “Common People.”| Youtube |
47. The Antlers “Zelda”
Calm, alone, in a cage, on antibiotics. The gradual build of layers in “Zelda” seems very simple at first, but as the small floating dot ascends closer, it reveals itself to be a somewhat monsterous and freakishly gorgeous (or gorgeously freakish) wonder of complexities. We took a field trip last September to a church temple where The Antlers performed this song (and several others) which is probably the best possible type of venue for these guys. Huge dark rooms filled with bibles and Christian imagery - pretty much the perfect setting for these types of bands. We know a lot of fans hugely rep for Hospice, but the Undersea EP is their best shit so far, and good enough to get us VERY excited for what they might have in store for 2013. | Youtube |
46. Mac Demarco “Robson Girl”
While the vague minimalist lyrics in “Robson Girl” suggest an intentionally cryptic message, its music seems far more direct. A screaming chaotic guitar solo lies in the center of this jam, but without the intense distortion that would be typical on a song from Nirvana or Spoon. It’s not so much a cathartic release, but instead it’s more of a “shaking my head” type of moment. A youtube comment describes “Robson” as a high-end shopping and entertainment district in Vancouver, although it seems like Mac Demarco’s subject is closer to the girl John Lennon sang about in “Girl” than the subject of “Uptown Girl” or “Gangnam Style.” Another possible key to opening this song appears during its fadeout when Demarco’s voice says “that’s a wrap” with a tone similar to Slaughterhouse Five's “so it goes.” We believe this was placed in the song purposely, not as an afterthought but rather to suggest the acceptance of “it’s over,” or “giving up,” or “nothing more can be done to remedy this situation.” | Youtube |
45. Beak> “Ladies Mile”
In case you guys missed it, the Mars Rover just tweeted yesterday that “Ladies Mile” is one of his favorite songs to listen to while perusing, observing and reporting those mysterious foreign landscapes. Beak> heard of this news and just finished recording a 6-hour long remix to be played at the Rover on repeat for the next two years.
44. Dinosaur Jr “Recognition”
Most of what we could say about “Recognition” was already stated in our blurb for “Rude,” the other Lou Barlow song from I Bet On Sky. We’re about 99.8% positive that no one from Dinosaur Jr will ever read this, so it probably wouldn’t be so horrible to admit that two of our three favorite songs from this album were the Barlow tracks, with the third song being the jammy closing track “See It On Your Side.” Also in the department of “filler info” (info that mostly exists to fill up the blurb so that the picture to the right can fit un-awkwardly), we were informed that Mascis normally enjoys front-loading Dinosaur albums, placing his favorites on Side A, which we found interesting since two of our 3 favorite songs were tracks 9 and 10. Patchiness aside, they’re not only one of the best bands in the world right now, but also among the best EVER. Top 20, at least. And we’re psyched as hell that their reunion has lasted this long, hopefully continuing even further into the future.| Youtube |
43. Miguel “Do You...”
| Soundcloud |
42. Jai Paul “Jasmine (Demo)”
Up until the blogs and publications reveal their year-end results, we really have no clue what songs are considered critics’ favorites. “Jasmine” is apparently this type of jam, which took us by surprise if only because this mysterious Jai Paul dude has a discography that currently contains only two songs released over the span of three years, although the murkiness and depth of this song yields more space and infectiousness than most bands are able to cram into a 40-minute full length. At first we heard “Jasmine” as an R&B version of Junior Boys with an “accidentally” catchy vocal melody submerged DEEP, with sick usage of handclaps as an added bonus. Around the 12th or 15th listen, we started hearing this as the hangover from a super-dark all-night coke session. Back in 2009, Cosmic Hearse posted the Wicked Witch album by labeling it as “pure uncut cocaine porno funk... sleazy compositions tweaked way past anything recognizable into a disjointed haze of freebase smoke...” We want “Jasmine” to be like this - an effortless accident - like Jai Paul woke up the next morning with no memory of recording any of this, even though in reality it was a meticulously crafted labor of love that probably took a few months to complete. And keep in mind this is merely the “demo” version. Has the definitive version been released yet?| Soundcloud |
41. A$AP Rocky featuring 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar & Drake “Fuckin’ Problems”
Regarding what’s hot on the streets and what the world is feeling RIGHT FUCKING NOW, it would not at all be out of the question to label “Fuckin’ Problems” as the definitive rap jam of the moment, totally encapsulating everything that rules about modern hiphop as of January 2013 (a radio jam perfect for bouncing along during long car rides, a badass singalong chorus with the word “fuck” in it) while dishing a heaping dose of everything that completely sucks about modern hiphop (lame boasts, fake-authenticity, Drake). While it’s a slight bummer that 2 Chainz didn’t receive a verse, Kendrick’s slightly squeezed-in closing statement exudes head-nodding freshness. It’s not exactly on par with the last verse of “Mo Money Mo Problems,” but still coming closer than any other radio single of 2012.| Soundcloud |
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Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify
| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
Similar to Ariel Pink's 2010 album, the most straight-faced and least warped song turned out to be a faithful cover. "Baby" is originally by a band called 
The odds are very good that Hot 97 is playing either this song or "Clique" right now, since they play one of these two songs every 10 minutes or so. Which makes sense. The build in the bridge section does sound pretty great on the radio. And "white girls politickin' that's that Sarah Palin." But seriously, why so much hype? More than half of Watch The Throne is better than this song. Clearly we won't be doing it any justice by discussing it here. Read these instead: 
We figured the “hiphop-song-poem” genre was dead and gone forever. 
Projectile-vomit scream-singing at its finest. The first song on this album is fittingly titled “You Don’t Look So Good,” which really sets the tone for the "all things vomit" that follows, with "Cut to Ribons" as track 2. It sounds like all the stuff that happens after "one too many." Do you ever find buttons in your vomit when you know you haven’t eaten any buttons? 
2012 was the year we kept discovering our new favorite bands who ended up splitting by the year’s end. Free Lunch, Bat Cave, Red Dwarf, Graph, Thank You Mr. Keating... It doesn't end there. Hooking Up’s split was especially frustrating after hearing their near-perfect Groin Pains EP from January of this year. “Bitter” recalls a young Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein yelling distorted obscenities into a 4-track recorder on Sebadoh III, captured in essence by the cover image of the dude on skates. 
While "Bad History Demos" continues floating around on cassette and online as we anticipate the proper version of this album, its lofi sludge still cut deeper than almost any other rock record of 2012. It’s not “Blues” in the classic sense, but at the moment we’re having trouble thinking of a better sonic comparison than Leadbelly, whose recordings were mostly just one guy singing in a room by himself taped with primitive 1930’s recording technology. Sean’s voice is clearly not anything like Leadbelly (closer to the guy from Helvetia) but the aura of this particular recording is such a blow to the gut that we can’t think of anything closer at the moment. We’re hearing its kickoff track “There Goes the Sun” (possibly the sequel to 2011’s “Here Comes the Sun”) as deep meandering transience. The sun possibly returns in the second half of the song, but either way it’s just gonna disappear in a few more hours. 
And speaking of fat history... (Cool transitions today.) Well we looked it up on Wikipedia, and it turns out that 
Muddy weighty overdrive distortion tries to sink us into quicksand, but the song's momentum is too intense, propelling us straight into orbit, blasting across lightyears of stars in under three minutes. Joe "Weirdo" Rockcrit sez: "I liked this band better when they were called Sonic Youth." PFF. We scoff in Joe's face. The production suggests far more than this, and the girl singer sounds closer to Belinda from My Bloody Valentine than Kim Gordon. And more importantly, these songs are killer. Broken Water are our new Olympia heroes. Tempest is solid as fuck. Don't sleep on this one!